The present invention pertains generally to transportation of water. More particularly, the new and useful invention claimed in this document pertains to a ditch liner system for conveying water through irrigation ditches. The present invention is particularly, but not exclusively, useful for providing both an apparatus and method for conveying water through concrete lined earthen ditches. The present invention also is useful for directing water flow into other ditches, from interconnected ditch liner sections. The present invention is also useful for reducing water loss during transportation of water through the system of ditch liners practiced in accordance with the present invention. The present invention also is useful for routing water by inverting a series of the ditch liners.
Ditches formed in earth for conveying water to a point or area of use have been common for generations throughout the world. Ditches have been used to transport both potable and irrigation water. Earthen irrigation ditches continue to be significant transporters of water, particularly to convey surface irrigation water to crops. As used in this document, the term xe2x80x9cditchxe2x80x9d includes any excavation dug in the earth that also may be referred to as a drain, channel, canal or acequia. Earthen ditches, relying on principles of gravity flow to transport water along descending elevations of a ditch, continue to be popular because they provide low-cost irrigation systems.
Since the advent of concrete and other building materials made by mixing a cementing material such as Portland cement with both a mineral aggregate such as sand and gravel, and sufficient water to cause the cementing material to set and bind the entire mass, concrete and similar materials have been used to line earthen ditches. A purpose of concrete lined ditches was to avoid loss of water through seepage into the earth. As use of concrete and similar materials increased, it became common to shape the cross-section of earthen ditches in a substantially trapezoidal configuration. Accordingly, the concrete used to line earthen ditches tends to be trapezoidal in cross-section as well.
Concrete, however, has several limitations and deficiencies as a liner for earthen ditches. Material characteristics of concrete are not consistent, and usually are not even consistent within the same ditch. Concrete ditch liners also react adversely to changes in ambient temperatures, and to rapidly altering hot and cold cycles. Concrete is subject to cracking due to temperature changes. If moisture penetrates cracks in concrete, a concrete lined ditch is subject to further cracking. Slight cracks have a tendency to expand into large cracks as frost and thaw cycles proceed through a typical year. In the end, concrete lined ditches are subject to possible catastrophic failure. As a result, significant amounts of water may be lost when transported through concrete lined ditches. The significant quantities of lost water, which is becoming an ever more precious commodity, are lost because of seepage, erosion, trans-evaporation and other causes. However, concrete lines ditches are peculiarly susceptible to cracking, decomposition, and the ultimate loss of significant amounts of water due to seepage through cracked concrete lined ditches.
Additional limitations of concrete lined ditches are significant. Not only are large quantities of water lost through seepage caused by cracks, breaks, and other forms of deterioration in concrete lined ditches, but concrete lined ditches must constantly be maintained, cleaned and repaired to avoid further loss of water through wall collapse, accumulated debris, newly formed cracks and deterioration of the base and walls of concrete due to the continued effects of weather. Repair and maintenance of concrete lined ditches is costly and labor intensive. Patching concrete is expensive, labor intensive, and difficult to achieve given the remote location of most ditches, particularly agricultural ditches used to transport irrigation water. The repair problems associated with concrete lined ditches present major construction efforts that often are neither practical nor affordable. Therefore, many concrete ditches continue to deteriorate, resulting in increased loss of water. Inability to readily direct and redirect water flow to other ditches or in other directions using concrete or steel also is a significant limitation on their use.
In recent years, efforts have been made to develop ways and means to seal cracked concrete lined ditches. For example, a variety of mortars and sprayed-on resins and plastics have been suggested. Unfortunately, both mortar and spray-on resins and plastics have proven to be inadequate solutions because of the costs involved in the materials and applications processes, and because of labor costs associated with direct application of such materials at the site of a concrete lined ditch, regular often remote from where such materials are available.
Concrete is expensive to install. Although concrete appears to be substantially permanent, as indicated, it is subject to deterioration. Removing a cracked concrete ditch liner is inordinately expensive, time consuming, and labor intensive.
What is needed, therefore, is an insert that can be placed into a concrete lined ditch that is easily installed, without heavy equipment, and is cost effective. What also is needed is a ditch liner system that may be inserted into a concrete lined ditch regardless of the extent of cracks, disintegration or other deterioration in a concrete ditch, and that directs water with minimal water loss through the ditch liner system.
An exemplary solution to problems associated with lining earthen ditches was provided by one of the present inventors in U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,640 B1, issued to Kenneth L. Suazo on Aug. 14, 2001 (xe2x80x9cSuazo Patentxe2x80x9d). The Suazo Patent provided an irrigation ditch liner system comprising a plurality of liner sections that are semi-cylindrical in shape and employ a sem-cylindrical connector piece to connect liner sections along the course of a ditch. Another exemplary solution to problems associated with lining earthen ditches is provided in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/316,756 filed by two of the present inventors on Dec. 11, 2002, for An Apparatus And Method For Transporting Water (xe2x80x9cSuazo Applicationxe2x80x9d), which adds significantly to the art.
To appreciate the additional advantages of the present invention, it is important to appreciate the significant distances that an interconnected system of liner sections may traverse in a field environment during use and operation of the present invention. Ditch lengths exceeding five thousand feet are not uncommon. In many field environments, the rate at which water flows through a ditch also is significant. Frequently, a ditch master, or similar official, notifies a property owner when water for irrigation has been released upstream. It thereafter becomes the responsibility of the ditch owner to secure the allotment of water before it passes downstream.
It also should be appreciated that loss of water due to cracked, crumbling, and disintegrating concrete lined ditches, commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cseepage loss,xe2x80x9d maybe considerable. Adjacent tree roots also may crack and disintegrate concrete lined ditches.
The present invention seeks to reduce or eliminate water loss associated with concrete lined ditches.
Further optimizations in connection with the Suazo Patent and the Suazo Application may be achieved as provided in connection with the present invention by providing alternative features and elements desirable for increasing the range and variety of differing applications and environments in which the present invention may be used. As indicated, a previously unaddressed need exists for a new, useful and improved ditch liner system that may be installed in concrete lined ditches, particularly a system that is easy to install, lightweight, will transport water efficiently at larger than customary flow rates while also reducing loss of water during conveyance, and will reduce maintenance problems that accompany insiltation, cleaning and maintenance of conventional concrete lined ditches.
Given the conventional solutions for attempting to solve problems associated with conventional ditch liners, it would be desirable, and of considerable advantage, to provide a ditch liner system for insertion into a concrete lined ditches that is lightweight, easy to install with readily available common tools and equipment, is capable of transporting water efficiently at larger than normal or conventional flow rates, yet significantly reduces water loss during transportation of water through a system of ditch liners. As used in this document, the terms xe2x80x9cditch liner section,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cliner section,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cliner,xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9csectionxe2x80x9d all mean, without limitation, the components described in this document that may be removably connected to form a ditch liner system for transporting water in accordance with the present invention. The terms, therefore, include a ditch liner section and an adapter, as described and claimed in this document. It would also be desirable to provide an apparatus and method for transporting water through a concrete lined ditch that is comparatively less expensive, is aesthetically pleasing in the operative environment, is environmentally friendly, and requires no unique skills to assemble, install, and maintain.
The present invention provides numerous advantages in connection with a ditch liner system for transporting water through a concrete lined ditch. At least one advantage of the present invention is that it provides an apparatus and method for lining ditches that is manufactured and constructed of materials that are environmentally safe, non-toxic, and completely recyclable.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is a unique feature for interconnecting ditch liner sections that allows liner sections to be assembled into a ditch liner system adjacent or beside the ditch before the ditch liner sections are installed in the concrete lined ditch.
Another advantage of the present invention is achieved because a number of ditch liner sections may be assembled into a series of interconnected ditch liner sections for installation into a concrete lined ditch.
Another advantage of the present invention is its ability to transport water efficiently at larger than customary flow rates, while reducing ditch insiltation, cleaning and maintenance, and significantly reducing water loss.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is its capability to withstand climate and temperature changes, as well as puncture shear from domestic and wild animals.
Still another advantage of the present invention is its low cost of installation.
Another advantage of the present invention is its flexible capability to adapt to the contour and configuration of already extant generally meandering concrete lined ditch, and to connect open ends of ditches that might otherwise be unconnectable.
Still another advantage of the present invention is its capability to inexpensively and readily divert flows of water in different directions as needed not only based on the course and courses of interconnected ditches, but also to efficiently deliver the water at the proper place for irrigation.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides unique apparatus and methods for interconnecting the sections of the liner system, which also contributes to reducing seepage, flow stoppage and other losses of water at the point of connection or joint between liner sections.
Yet another object of the present invention is that it provides transportable, flexible, and light weight ditch liner system components that can be installed either in existing or newly constructed concrete lined ditches.
Yet another advantage of the ditch liner system is its capability to reroute selected ditch liner sections, and therefore the water that the selected ditch liner sections transport, through a wide range of changes in direction.
Another advantage of the ditch liner system is the capability of diverting water from one ditch into a different ditch.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that the ditch liner system may be used apart from a concrete lined ditch by inverting the customary positioning of the ditch liner system, securing the inverted ditch liner system in place using as a non-exclusive example dirt that covers the inverted ditch liner system, and routing water under the dirt compacted inverted ditch liner system.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is an apparatus and method for directing water that respectively are easy to use and to practice, and cost effective for their intended purposes.
These and other advantages of the present invention are achieved by providing a ditch liner system composed of a plurality of preferably corrugated ditch liners that are removably engageable with each other. Preferably, the ditch liners are manufactured substantially of polyethylene. Each ditch liner section is formed with an upstream and a downstream end. Each ditch liner is substantially trapezoidal in cross-section. The trapezoidal configuration of the cross-section of each ditch liner and ditch liner section is not a limitation of the present invention. Rather, a ditch liner and ditch liner section may be formed in substantially any shape to adapt to the configuration of a concrete lined ditch. A compressibly connectable member is monolithically formed in the downstream end of the plurality of removably engageably ditch liner. In addition, a duct may be peripherally formed in the compressibly connectable member. A coupling sleeve is formed monolithically in the upstream end of the plurality of removably engageable ditch liners. The compressibly connectable member is insertable into the coupling sleeve from the top down. The term xe2x80x9ctop downxe2x80x9d means that the outside surface of the compressibly connectable member may be pressed against the adjoining curved surfaces of the coupling sleeve to connect the compressibly connectable member to the coupling sleeve. A channel also may be peripherally formed in the coupling sleeve. One or more connectors are insertable through the channel into the compressibly connectable member. At least one adapter for directing water from the assembled ditch liner system is provided. In addition, means are provided for connecting the assembled ditch liner system to a concrete lined ditch.
The present invention, therefore, is useful for forming a system for transporting water through a concrete lined ditch that substantially eliminates water loss, is sufficiently lightweight to be easily assembled and placed into a concrete lined ditch, and may be disassembled for relocation, repair, or other purpose, yet remains fixed in the ditch during operation and use.
The foregoing has outlined broadly the more important features of the invention to better understand the detailed description which follows, and to better understand the contribution of the present invention to the art. Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in application to the details of construction, to the trapezoidal cross-section configuration, or to the arrangements of the components provided in the following description or drawing figures. The invention is capable of other embodiments, and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, the phraseology and terminology employed in this disclosure are for purpose of description, and should not be regarded as limiting.
It will become apparent to one skilled in the art that the claimed subject matter as a whole, including the structure of the apparatus, and the cooperation of the elements of the apparatus, combine to result in a number of unexpected advantages and utilities that have been noted. The advantages and objects of the present invention, and features of such an apparatus and method for lining a ditch, will become apparent to those skilled in the art when read in conjunction with the accompanying following description, drawing figures, and appended claims.
As those skilled in the art also will appreciate, the conception on which this disclosure is based readily may be used as a basis for designing other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the purposes of the present invention. The claims, therefore, include such equivalent constructions to the extent the equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Further, the abstract associated with this disclosure is neither intended to define the invention, which is measured by the claims, nor intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.
The novel features of this invention, and the invention itself, both as to structure and operation, are best understood from the accompanying drawing, considered in connection with the accompanying description of the drawing, in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts, and in which: